Seoul - Day 18

Until last year I took part in an educational program at the KLTI. I enjoyed almost a year of classes and lectures and by the end of the program I felt like my translation skills had improved a lot. It was an excellent time during which I met some very good people and awesome friends. Today I went back to swing by for a visit. I tried to reach old Malte, but he's hard to get a hold of. At the end it was Yumissem, Dr. Kwon, Sunyoungssi and Mrs. Yun. We had a more or less formal lunch and not enough time to really talk.

In the afternoon I met Jeune hyung at the nearby COEX Mall. We had a snack at Burger King and some coffee to go. It was so hot outside, that we decided to stay indoors and check out some stores. In the evening we were going to meet Giwoun hyung and he asked us to get some wine, because we were going to have a barbeque dinner. Everybody was to bring something and we had all agreed on wine as a common liquid force.

He had called me up a few days ago and told me about this trip. It sounded promising: a short road trip to Gapyeong, a rented place and the possibility to BBQ and wakeboard. Perfect. So when he asked me if I wanted to join the crew I didn't hesitate to say yes. I asked him about the other members and he said they were all good people, don't worry. And that was all I needed to hear. When he says don't worry, I know he makes sure that there is nothing to worry about. 

We picked up Dongmin hyung in Sinsadong, Giwoun hyung was in another car with two of his friends, and another two were coming in a third one. We all met at the pension and when we arrived it was already late. Mana and Jin quickly fixed a pasta specialty and a fresh salad, Jeune hyung took care of the grill, and Dongmin hyung and Giwoun hyung were generously pouring wine in little plastic cups. Soon after we took a seat around the massive wooden table outside on the veranda, Jumi and Jiyoung arrived and completed the group. 

The pension was right by the Bukhan River and if you listened very closely you could hear that the water was making almost no sound. The food was delicious and made it easier to break the ice between us. Over dinner we all got to know each other a little better and it didn't take long before we could kick back and enjoy the evening. The wine sure did its job and we soon began to tell and share our stories. It became a very long night and I went to sleep with a lot of things to think about.